Florida Hospital Fish Memorial Opens New Unit

Florida Hospital Fish Memorial has reopened a 15-bed unit called 1 North that will serve as a Progressive Care Unit (PCU). These Florida Hospital Fish Memorial staffers will care for patients who are less critical than Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients, but still require more care than provided on regular nursing floors. Pictured here in the first row is Katelyn Baldwin, registered nurse; second row,: Janice Swick, Hospital Unit Coordinator, and Carmella Howell, registered nurse; third row: Desmonee Walker, Patient Care Technician, Pamela LeMay, Clinical Lead/Charge Nurse, and Jamie Marschall, registered nurse.

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posted Dec 11, 2013 - 11:47:03am

On Dec. 2, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial reopened a 15-bed unit called 1 North, as it is located on the north half of the first floor. The unit will be a Progressive Care Unit (PCU), which cares for patients that are less critical than Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients, but still require more care than provided on regular nursing floors.

Previously, 1 North had been a medical-surgical unit that closed in December 2011, when the hospital opened the fifth floor patient tower, adding 36 private rooms.

The 1 North unit has just completed upgrades, including installing telemetry monitoring that will enable nurses to monitor 15 PCU patients.

“When 1 North opens, we will move our patients from the existing second floor PCU into 1 North. This unit will not replace our second floor PCU, but rather, will be an extension of the PCU, with 15 monitors available to monitor patients,” said Mary Alford, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial Director of Inpatient Nursing. “This gives us much more flexibility in bed placement. These PCU patients are currently in semi-private rooms on the second floor, with much bed shifting occurring, based on hospital bed needs. Patients in the private 1 North rooms will have more privacy and be more satisfied. We will be able to facilitate more throughput from our Emergency Department, and save time, energy and resources. We are very excited for the opening; it's great to see a plan come together.”

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